Guitar.guitar.guitar.

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veritas

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Ok this may be a dumb yet highly repeated topic.. But I'd like some input on recording distorted guitars. Like panning rhythms and double tracking and blending everything with the lead tracks. I've usually just been using (ive also just statted recording)rhythm hard left and lead hard right but it's not cutting it. Everytime I try to double track rhythm and pan hard l and right then track a lead it usually gets drowned out by the other two tracks. Any tips or advice?
 
EQ'ing the lead or giving it a different tone than the other two at the tracking stage.

Of course, you could always just turn down the rhythm guitars. xD
 
One tip: Remember that you should set the amount of distortion to a lower level than what sounds good in your amp, and especially if you doubletrack them (the distortion is like a nasty but sweetsounding virus: it multiplies!! RUN!).
 
Think of the lead part as the "voice" of the song at that point. Now listen to a few songs. Where's the voice?

In the middle.

So start by putting your lead in the middle.

And when you say you try to double track the rhythm part--are you just copying and pasting or are you playing it a second time? Copying and pasting, then panning, gains you nothing (except gain--pun intended). The value in double tracking is the ever-so-slight differences in the two performances. The goal is to do them as tight as you can--but even then there will be tiny little "human" differences that create the spread between left and right.

So do this: pick a chunk of one of your tunes that has a lead solo going on. Using a click track or drum part, play the rhythm part once (and take the above advice and try it with less distortion than you normally would). Pan that track hard left. Now, record a second track, playing the same rhythm part--and pan that one hard right. Finally, play your lead and record it on a third track. Pan that one right down the middle.

The lead might need some reverb compared to the 2 rhythm tracks. And you'll certainly have to adjust the volume levels. And in the end, you'll have to tweak the mix to suit your song--maybe the rhythm tracks aren't panned hard left and right--maybe they're 75% and 25%. Maybe the lead has more distortion than the rhythm. Maybe you eq the two rhythm tracks a tad bit differently to enhance the separation.

In any case, you'll have the building blocks to play with any number of variations. And by keeping the rhythm parts on the left and right, with the lead down the middle, you'll certainly be able to create a mix where the lead doesn't get buried.

Good luck, and post some samples so we can help you get there!
 
Awesome thanks so much guys! When I get back to my computer ill post some sound clips.
 
Yeah, you don't need to hard pan rhythm tracks. Depending on where your percussion and drums sit, you're gonna get different feels. Often I'll pan rhythm guitars about 2/3 of the way in their respective directions.

Remember, songs can have incredible "width" without everything being panned wide. I've found panning is entirely preference based. You do what makes YOUR mix sound good. Maybe it all sounds good in mono. If it does, don't make it stereo because you feel like you have to.

also, when the lead guitar is coming up, split the rhythm guitars to separate tracks and lower the eq from 2-4 khz like 2 db. It will let the lead peak out more. Also, apply minor echo and reverb to your lead for reinforcement, even if you can't hear it in the mix.

Also, solo your drums. turn up your speakers to where you would have the song get as loud as it can get before you feel like you're blasting it.
THEN you turn up your guitars to sit well with the drums. I've found that, if the drums stand out, the mix will sound more powerful.

also also, increasing any guitar eq over 5kz can make the guitars feel "closer"
reason why is because higher frequencies get lost over distance, so if you're hearing a sound source that has high frequency, your brain will interpret it as "closer"
 
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